On the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the WP notes that the Administration “badly underestimated the financial cost of the occupation and seriously overstated the ease of pacifying Iraq and the warmth of the reception Iraqis would give the U.S. invaders.” Remember, before the war, Vice President Cheney “predicted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s troops would ‘step aside’ and that the conflict would be ‘weeks rather than months,’ a phrase repeated by other top officials. Others in advisory roles in the Administration predicted Iraqi soldiers would ‘throw in the towel’ and Hussein would collapse like ‘a house of cards.’” Today, however, there is no exit strategy, and peace and democracy in the region remain elusive. Meanwhile, the Administration’s pre-war assertion that Iraq had WMD, had an operational relationship with Al Qaeda and thus was an imminent threat to America has also been proven completely false. See American Progress’s Claim vs. Fact analysis.

It’s a good piece that seems to cover most of the major points, so go and check it out. I was personally a bit disgusted, but not at all surprised, by the way the Bush administration spent the past few days crowing about their great victory in Iraq, all the while carefully ignoring any of the facts that don’t make them look good. It does sort of amaze me that some people in the U.S. are apparently still fooled by this, even as the Spanish and the Poles wise up.

UPDATE: Here are some pictures from the protests that have taken place around the world to mark the anniversary.